The book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair served as the catalyst to a movement in which the American public demanded the right to safe food causing the government to respond to this responsibility.
An Era of Reform
The Progressive Era was a period of social and political reform in the United States that flourished from the 1890s until the 1920s. Progressive reformers made the first comprehensive effort within an American context to address the ills caused by the emergence of a rapidly industrialized and urban society. The U.S. population nearly doubled in the period from 1870 until 1900, with a population of 38,555,983 in 1870 to a population of 76,803,387 in 1900. This substantial growth coupled with a rise of manufacturing production by over 800 percent from 1863 to 1899 led to unprecedented economic growth, yet also generated profound social and economic problems that challenged the government that categorized America at this time.The Progressives that combated these challenges were predominantly urban, middle-class, and college educated, such as lawyers, teachers, doctors, and ministers.
This era accommodated a large diversity of reformers, however, many issues were universally protested. The extensive exploitation of child labor in both factories and at home, often for pennies a day and in diseased conditions, poor housing, and sanitation became issues of focus for most reformers. At the turn of the century the biggest concern of Progressives shifted to the extreme concentration of wealth among a tiny group of the elite, the enormous economic and political power of the newly formed trusts and corporations along with concerns over abuses by business who exploited labor and the lack of government regulation of the marketplace. By ...
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...ublication. Both promised an unprecedented expansion of federal power, allowing the government to regulate the safety and purity of food transported across state lines. The effect was to abolish the worst abuses that Sinclair had uncovered and to safeguard the public from further poisoning by the meat they bought. In a message to Congress on December 3, 1907, President Roosevelt claimed that the law, though only having been in effect for a short time benefited both the reputable packers and the public who, he said, “are better off under the law than they were without.”
The Jungle lead to the passage of food safety legislation which has created both rights, as well as responsibilities. Consumers gained the right to safe, unadulterated food. While the government has developed the responsibility to safeguard its citizens from unsafe and irresponsible food practices.
However, that was not the case. When The Jungle was presented to the public, readers were astonished by the disgusting and unsanitary state in which the meat was being processed in. The community was more concerned with the meat conditions than they were with the horrific conditions the workers were faced with. So while the popularity of Sinclair’s work was not his original intentions, it still accomplished stages of reform. It can be assumed that Roosevelts initial reluctance to accept Sinclair’s novel was in part, directly connected to his disbelief that the Federal government had become so disconnected and oblivious to American industry and the complete lack of Federal oversight. This “disconnect” did not last long as The Pure Food and Drug Act, as well as, the Meat Inspection Act were both directly set in to place mere months after Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle was published. This type of reform supported progressive philosophy by preventing corporate owners from remaining above government regulation and started a trend in the way government regulators began to deal with corporate monopolies and trusts. The Jungle, along with other “muckrakers” began a series of Federal oversight reforms and regulatory guidance that soon began to take hold in other industries. Big industry would soon realize that they were not above the
During the Progressive Era, pressure from labor, suffrage, and conservation movements profoundly changed the course of American history. Many of the reformers' ideas clashed with the male-dominated, capitalist economic structure present at the turn of the century. Some of the intended reforms opposed the current system, but the level of social unrest necessitated change. Businessmen and activists alike initiated the reforms during the Progressive Era. Government, due to the intention of calming the common man and quieting the seemingly more and more vocal middle class, supported them. In the final analysis, from the year 1900 to 1920, Progressive Era reformers were successful in bringing about reform to the United States.
Cities and industry grew in growth on the first of January in 1900 which created an influx of the high classes. Andrew Carnegie is a factory owner who was about to sell his steel company, but ended up becoming one of the richest man in the world. However, there was an underside of this whole excitement to earn money and the hope of the American dream. Average earnings were less than $500 a year, but in the unskilled southern workers earned an average of $300 a year. The work hours were 60 hours a week, wages were strained, and horrible child labor. The question is what was the most important problems in America during the early 1900s that needed to be addressed by The Progressive Movement. There are three main reasons: the struggling child labor, women’s voting rights, and
In 1906, socialist Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, a book he hoped would awaken the American people to the deplorable conditions of workers in the meat packing industry. Instead, the book sent the country reeling with its description of filthy, rat infested plants, suspect meats processed and sold to consumers, and corrupt government inspectors. President Roosevelt became seriously concerned by the charges brought forth by Mr. Sinclair and determined the only way to protect consumers from unscrupulous business and unsafe food was to enforce regulation.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the economy was booming, new technology flourished. The rapid industrialization brought achievement to the United States, however, it also caused several social problems. Wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of a few, and poverty and political corruption were widespread. As people became aware of these problems, a new reform group was created. Unlike populism, which had been a group of farmers grown desperate as the economy submerged into depression, the new reform movement arose from the educated middle class. These people were known as the progressives. The Progressive Movement was a movement that aimed at solving political, economic, and social problems. The Progressives were people from the middle class who had confidence that they could achieve social progress through political reform. The Progressives sought after changes and improvements in the society through laws and other federal actions.
Within the period of 1900-1920, many national reforms were rising to the top as Progressive Era reformers and the federal government heard the voices of the people. The effectiveness of Progressivism is a controversial subject for some, but the future was changed through the events of any actions a president made, the rights of people, and unfair treatment and conditions. This era brings changes to our society that also changes the future of it. These two decades brought forth successful times in bettering America.
The most commonly known, and consequently most watered down, version of the progressive movement argues that this era was simply an effort by the middle class to cure many of the social and political ills of American society that had developed during the rapid industrial growth in the last quarter of the 19th century. This explanation has proven to be a woefully inadequate in the face of the complexities that characterize these times. In Richard Hofstadter’s The Age of Reform, Peter Filene’s “An Obituary for the Progressive Movement,” Richard McCormick’s “The Discovery that Business Corrupts Politics,” and Paula Baker’s “The Domestication of Politics” each author asserts their own unique interpretations of the progressive movement. These distinct examinations each chart and thus manifest the fluidity of knowledge about this particular time period and how it has been shaped reshaped by new analysis.
Reformers known as Progressives attempted to undo the problems caused by industrialization. The Progressive movement sought to end the influence of large corporations, provide more rights and benefits to workers, and end the control possessed by party leaders. At the national level, Progressivism centered on defeating the power of large businesses. The Progressive Era was a period in American history in which improving working conditions, exposing corruption, improving the way of life, expanding democracy, and making reforms were the objectives at hand. With the emergence of the Progressive Era, two important figures gradually emerged as well.
Although the first signs of this pristine Progressive movement shone since the mid-1800s, no one had cleared the way for its momentous effect upon the nation in the same degree as Theodore Roosevelt. Although at times hot-tempered and brash, his charismatic attitude pushed forward many of the original progressive legislations. For example, his Sherman Anti-Trust Act proposed the life of a trust should be based on its history and actions, since he believed “good” trusts existed along with “bad” ones. Next, the Elkins Act proposed railroads and shippers to offer rebates illegal. They also had to have fixed rates, and couldn’t change without notice. Also, the Hepburn Act gave ICC the power to set maximum railroad rates. Next, of course because of the impetus for reform provided by the many socialist writers, such as Upton Sinclair, was the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act, protecting the health and safety of consumable products and establishing the Food and Drug Administration. He also wished to preserve the untainted countryside, and established the National Forest Service and also strengthened the Forest Bureau. He also passed the Newlands Act which helped to create subsidies for irrigation in 16 western states. The actions taken by Theodore Roosevelt proved to throw the Progressive movement into the mainstream of the nation, showing its true, ingenuous face.
The turn of the century was marked by a movement known as the Progressive Era, during which many groups sought to reshape the nation's government and society in response to the pressure of urbanization and industrialization. Progressives were mainly members of the Post-Civil War generation that made an attempt to master a world much different then that of their parents.
At the turn of the century America entered a new age that many historians call the Progressive Era. During this time period, the American Political system changed its view on how America should be brought about. It provided a purification of the American government through direct democracy. This era included many social and political reforms, which were brought about due to monopolies, and trust corporations.
Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle is a political statement piece that was written to show the conditions of immigrants workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sinclair, through weeks of extensive research, gathered enough information to form a story based on the evidence he had gathered. Although The Jungle is a work of fiction, Sinclair’s novel is still said to be a primary source due the the fact that it was based on research he was doing personally, it was written near the time it was set, and it contains many historical accuracies.
Cities grew in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As specialized industries like steel and meat packing improved, jobs also increased in the cities. These factories work lured former farmers, immigrants, and American workers moved into the cities. These people lived in tenements and ghettos and were unable to earn an authentic living due to unreasonable wage cut. Progressivism is an umbrella label for a wide range of economic, political, social, and moral reforms. The early twentieth century acted as the Progressive Era, when Americans find solutions to resolve problems that were engendered by industrialization. Predicated on the documents, Progressive Era were effective because of child labor, working conditions, and women's suffrage.
In conclusion it is obvious to see that rights and responsibilities were not carried out by the meatpacking industry. They were greed driven business men who “poisoned for profit” as president Roosevelt said. The meatpackers had a right to make their product but did not take the responsibility to do it in a manner that was safe to the consumer. Thanks to people like Upton Sinclair and Theodore Roosevelt, the meat industry today takes the responsibility to make a safe quality product of the public.
The people who read it were so appalled by the disgusting filth, and the actual ingredients of the processed meat. The book provided the final drive for way for the U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act and truth in labeling all passed by President Theodore Roosevelt. Also in the story, Sinclair concerns the readers with the abuse of immigrant workers, both men and women. This is partially why he uses the story of the man moving from Lithuania to America.